luther



(No Model.)

J. P. & S. L.LUTHER..

GLOVE FASTENBR.

Patented Jan. 19, 1897.

El Tommy/5 Nrrnn STATES PATENT Orricn.

JUSTUS 1. LUTHER AND SARAH L. LUTHER, OF BERLIN, WISCONSIN, ASSIGNORS, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, OF ONE-HALF TO HENRY D. SLAYTON, DUANE DOTY, AND LUOIUS H. CURTIS, OF SAME PLACE.

G LOVE-FAST'EN ER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 575,362, dated January 19, 1897.

A li ti fi1 d October 11, 1895- Serial No. 565,356. (No model.)

To (ti/l whom, [it may concern.-

Be it known that we, JUsTUs P. LUTHER and SARAH L. LUTHER, citizens of the United States, residing at Berlin, in the county of Green Lake and State of Visconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Glove and Mitten Fasteners, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

Our invention relates to improvements in gloves of that class which are provided with a draw-string to contract the wristlet thereof and serve as a means for fastening the side portions of the glove after they have been properly drawn around the wearers wrist.

Previous to our invention gloves have been provided with various forms of fasteners, including spring socket and ball fasteners, snap devices, and draw-string devices, but such prior devices are open to various objections in the practical use of gloves. In some varieties of draw-string fasteners, to which class our improvements relate, two series of hooks have been fastened to the respective sides of a glove, and one end of the string is permanently fastened to the glove and adapted to be laced alternately with the adjacent hooks on the respective sides of a glove. It has also been proposed to provide the drawstring with a series of balls or knobs fastened at suitable intervals thereon and to make one series of hooks in the form of spring-olasps to enable the balls or knobs tobe sprung into the clasps with a view to affording greater security in fastening the draw-string; but our improvements, as will be hereinafter pointed out, are of a substantially different nature from these lacing-stud-and-string fasteners. We are also aware that it has been proposed to provide a shoe-fastener with a draw-string having one end fastened permanently to a foldable flap or fly which is adapted to lap over the exposed quarter of a boot or shoe, said flap-or fly provided at its upper edge or corner with an eyelet and said boot, or shoe quarter provided with two lacing studs or hooks placed at suitable intervals on the quarter opposite to the point of attachmentof the cord and the eyelet, respectively, on the flap or fly, whereby the lacing-cord may be first passed around the lower hook, then through the eyelet 011 the fly, and fastened around the upper hook on the quarter. In this boot or shoe fastener the hooks, eyelet, and drawstring are so placed as to render the employment of a stiffening-spring in the free edge of the fly necessary to keep the fly in proper place and to prevent it from getting out of shape; but in our glove the elements of the fastening appliance are arranged in a novel way to dispense altogether with any stiffening-spring or other holding appliance. WVe are also aware of the fastener for glove-wrist lets disclosed by United States Letters Iatout No. 437,251, in which a runway-eyelet is attached to one side of a glove close to the edge thereof, a second eyelet is attached to the opposite side of the glove some distance back from the edge of the same, and a contracting-cord of peculiar style is arranged to draw the wristlet closed and to fasten it when closed. Said cord in such patent, which has one end knotted to fasten it in the remotelyplaced eyelet,-is then carried across the open part of the wristlet and passed through the runway-eyelet and is then formed in a noose or loop which embraces that part of the cord between the two eyelets. This noose or sliploop is adapted to play back and forth on the main portion or length of the cord within the limits of the distance between the two eyelets, and it serves as a means for fastening the glove by drawing the loop tightly around the cord, when the wristlet is closed by pulling the cord in a direction to draw the runway-eyelet toward the eyelet having the knotted end of the cord.

It is obvious to those skilled in the art that the cord and the noose or slip-knot sliding thereon are exposed to considerable friction and wear, due to the action of the noose-loop when it is moved back and forth, andhence the cord and the draw-loop are liable to soon become frayed or worn out and broken. The tightening of the loop or noose around the cord cannot be easily effected, nor can it be conveniently and quickly released, particularly when the hands are cold through exposure or when they are incased in the gloves. The noose or slip-loop being limited in its play to the distance between the two eyelets the extent of adjustability' of the wristlet is correspondingly restricted, and the gloves are therefore not well adapted to wrists of different sizes.

It is the object of our invention to provide an extremely simple, durable, and cheap means for contracting and fastening the wristlets of gloves inwhich the operation of securing and releasing the draw-string may be easily and quickly effected when the hands are cold or gloved. The draw-stringis readily adjustable to adapt the glove to differentsized wrists and to protect the draw-string from friction and wearin a great measure, so as to promote the durability and life of the fastener. ends we provide the wristlet portion of a glove with two eyelets secured in the respective sidesthereof, close up tothe edges of the same and in alinement with each other across the wristlet, to enablethe edges to be drawn so close together that one eyelet will overlap the other eyelet or that the two edges of the glove may meet or register, and we further provide the glove with a fastening hook or stud, which is attached to one side of the glove back from its edge and in a line with the two eyelets transversely across the wristlet portion of'the glove. The draw-string is knotted at one end to providean' adjustable stop, an d it is passed through one eyelet, then carried across the open: portion of the wristlet and through the other eyelet, and. it isprovided with a stopball near its free end and with a pull-ball at theextremity thereof. The operation of contracting the wristlet and fastening the same is accomplished very easily and quickly by pulling on the hand-ball and slipping the string beneath the hook-stud for the stop-ball to press against thehook or stud and to open the. glove preparatory to drawing it off the hand the cord ismanipulated to remove it and the stop-ball from engagement with the hookstud, these operations of fastening and releasingthe wristlet being effected easily when the hands are incased by the gloves or when they are cold or numb through exposure.

To enable others to understand our inven tion, we have illustrated the same in the accompanying,drawings, forming a part of this specification, and in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of provided with our fastening. Fig; 2 is afront view of the same. Fig. 3 is a detail view of the fastening-string; Fig. 4, a horizontal section through the wristband of the glove.

Referring to the drawings, in which like letters of reference denote corresponding parts in. all the figures, the letter A designates the wristlet portion of a glove, and a a refer to the sides thereof formed by the opening or V-shaped incision produced in the wristlet for the purpose of facilitating the expansion and contraction of the wristlet in putting on or taking off the glove. The wristlet hasthe a glove To the accomplishment of thesefoldable gore e, which is secured to-the inside of the glove by stitching the gore near the edges of the sides Ct a of the wristlet. The gore is made or creased to fold centrally when thesides a a of the wristlet are drawn .toward each other in order that the edges of the sides may abut or lie flush or that one edge may overlap the other edge, and said gore also serves to protect the wearers wrist from exposure to cold while in the act of opening or closing the wristlet.

In the side CL of the wristlet is provided an eyelet b, and in the opposite side a of the wristlet is a similar eyelet 0. These eyelets are fastened to the sides a a close up to the respective edges thereof, and they are arranged in a line drawn across the wristlet at right angles to the length of the glove, so that the two sides (t a may be drawn so closely together as tocause one-edge'and its attached eyelet to overlap the other'edge and the eyelet thereon or sothat the two edges may abut against or lie flush with each other to present a neat appearance.

In the side a of the wristlet is fastened the hook-like stud 71. This stud is not attached to the wristlet side a close up to the edge thereof, but, on the contrary, it is placed some distance back from the edge of the side and back from the eyelet c, which is attached to the side a. This hook-like stud h is on" a straight line drawn across'the wristlet at right angles to the length of the glove, and thus the two eyelets and the hook-stud are placed in a common line. The advantage ofthis arrangement of the eyelets and thehook-stud lies in the fact that the draw-string has a straight pull across the wristlet, which results in contracting the wristlet to bring the edges Ct a even and straight, and the top edge of the glove is not drawn more on one side than the other, the'whole appearance of the wristlet being harmonious and pleasing. Another advantage due the new arrangement of these parts is'that springs for holding the edges of the sides a a in proper position are dispensed with and a short drawstrin g may be used advantageously.

The-drawstring j has one end formed into a knot d, which constitutes an adjustable stop to lengthen or shorten the string and thus make the glove to fit wrists of different sizes. The drawstring passes through the eyelet c in the side a of thewristlet, (so that the stopknot d can be-pulled up against the eyelet,) and from thence it passes across and outside of the goreto and'through the eyelet l) in the side a of the wristlet. The draw-string is provided at its free end with a pull-knot, and at a suitable point intermediate of its length it has a stop-knot, as shown by Fig. 3. As a means for preventing wear on the knots and for prolonging the life of the draw-string we protect the pull-knot and the stop-knot. by metallic balls. Each'ball is stamped in suit able form from a single blank of sheet metal and is then shaped around the knot and crimped 011 the cord and knot, whereby the ball incloses and protects the knot and string from fraying and breaking, and the former serves as a means for holding the metal ball or knob in place on the draw-string. The pull-ball '5 is larger than the stop-ball g, but the stop-ball g is of such size as to prevent it from passing through the space or eye of the hook-stud.

The operation of fastening or unfastening the glove is very simple and is quickly performed. After the hand is in the glove the operator draws on the pull-ball to draw the string and contract the wristlet until the stopball passes the hook'stud, after which the draw-string is slipped under the hook-stud and then released, so that the strain on the string pulls the stop-ball against the hookstud, thus securely fastening the glove. To release and open the wristlet preparatory to drawing off the glove, it is only necessary to pull the pull-ball and string, so that the latter will slip out of the hook-stud and'withdraw the stop-ball from engagement With said hook-stud, whereupon the wristlet will open freely when the glove is removed from the hand.

Having thus fully described our invention,

what we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is 1 As a new article of manufacture, a glove having its wristlet provided with the eyelets b, c, which are attached to the sides a, a thereof and arranged closely adjacent to the respective edges of said sides, Ct, at; the hooklike stud, h, fastened to one of the sides of the wristlet at a point farther back from the edge than the eyelet 0 adjacent thereto, said eyelets and hook-like stud arranged in a line extending straight across the wristlet at right angles to the length of the glove; the drawstring having a knotted end, 61, secured in the eyelet, c, and passing through eyelet b; the pull-ball, 'i,attached to the draw-string near its free end, and a stop-ball, g, attached to the draw-string at a point between the eyelet and the stop-ball and of a size larger than the opening in. the stud h, for the purposes described, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof we affix our signatures in presence of two witnesses. I

JUSTUS P. LUTHER. SARAH L. LUTHER. Witnesses:

Mrs. F. H. BOWEN, A. L. TUCKER. 

